We present the first results from the XMM-NEWTON Galactic Plane Survey ( XGPS ) .
In the first phase of the programme , 22 pointings were used to cover a region of approximately three square degrees between 19 ^ { \circ } – 22 ^ { \circ } in Galactic longitude and \pm 0.6 ^ { \circ } in latitude .
In total we have resolved over 400 point X-ray sources , at \geq 5 \sigma significance , down to a flux limit of \sim 2 \times 10 ^ { -14 } ~ { } erg~ { } s ^ { -1 } ~ { } cm ^ { -2 } ( 2–10 keV ) .
The sources exhibit a very wide range of spectral hardness , with interstellar absorption identified as a major influence .
The source populations detected in the soft ( 0.4–2 keV ) band and hard ( 2–6 keV ) band show surprisingly little overlap .
The majority of the soft sources appear to be associated with relatively nearby stars with active stellar coronae , judging from their high coincidence with bright stellar counterparts .

The combination of the XGPS measurements in the hard X-ray band with the results from earlier surveys carried out by ASCA and CHANDRA reveals the form of the low-latitude X-ray source counts over 4 decades of flux .
It appears that extragalactic sources dominate below \sim 10 ^ { -13 } ~ { } erg~ { } s ^ { -1 } ~ { } cm ^ { -2 } ( 2–10 keV ) , with a predominantly Galactic source population present above this flux threshold .
The nature of the faint Galactic population observed by XMM-NEWTON remains uncertain , although cataclysmic variables and RS CVn systems may contribute substantially . XMM-NEWTON observes an enhanced surface brightness in the Galactic plane in the 2–6 keV band associated with Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission ( GRXE ) .
The integrated contribution of Galactic sources plus the breakthrough of extragalactic signal accounts for up to 20 per cent of the observed surface brightness .
The XGPS results are consistent with the picture suggested from a deep CHANDRA observation in the Galactic plane , namely that the bulk of the GRXE is truly diffuse .